Theo Walcott presses his claim to be a central force for Arsenal

Theo Walcott of Arsenal is hoping for a successful season ahead as he trains on the club's tour of Asia. Photograph: Stanley Chou/Getty Images

At times such as these, when Theo Walcott looks perfectly capable of charming every one of China's 1.3 billion inhabitants, it can appear a trick of the mind that he is still only 22.

The Arsenal player has stolen the show at a series of engagements on the club's Asia tour, his poise, humour and warmth helping to generate a trail of hysteria. He has a line for every question. When Jack Wilshere was asked to describe his childhood dream at a Q&A event here, Walcott interrupted to quip that his team?mate was "still a child".

Sometimes, Walcott does not have to say anything. After one of the thousands of Arsenal-shirted local supporters yelled at him "You're a Tiger," a reference to his boyhood nickname – they know their stuff here – he gave a pretend swipe of a paw. His colleagues alongside him, in particular Wojciech Szczesny and Wilshere, would have killed him for that. The fans simply went nuts.

Walcott has crammed a lot into his tender years. A World Cup call-up at 17; a World Cup rejection at 21. He has had the big-money move, played on the grand stages and lived under a blazing spotlight. But now, he feels that he is at a crossroads. He is convinced that the time has come for Arsene Wenger to move him in from the wing and play him as a central striker.

It was the career path that Thierry Henry followed, under Wenger's guidance, and the strength of feeling in Walcott's plea to the manager betrayed a certain impatience. It is not in Walcott's nature to be outspoken.

"I was signed as a striker and I want to play up front," he said. "I think I have done my trade out on the wing. I think a lot of people forget that I'm not a winger. I see myself as a striker, although if I get played up front, it will take me a few games to get used to playing there again because I haven't played there for about five years now. I think I have done a fairly good job on the wing for Arsenal and I will play anywhere for this team but, hopefully, the fans will start seeing me a bit more up front."

Walcott will wait with bated breath on Wenger's transfer market moves. The club have already signed Gervinho from Lille and Wenger said that the Ivory Coast forward reminded him of Henry and Walcott, in terms of his pace, movement and finishing. Gervinho is known primarily for playing on either flank but he can operate through the middle.

Wenger is rarely short of players who think that they would excel up front, ideally in a roaming role behind the centre-forward. There is an argument that says Robin van Persie, Wenger's first-choice No9, is more of a No10 while Samir Nasri, Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey, Tomas Rosicky and Abou Diaby would each love to make the role their own. And, for the moment at least, there is still Cesc Fabregas.

Walcott played on the right flank in Wednesday's 4-0 friendly win over Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur – he scored the team's second goal – and in a 4-1-4-1 formation, Wenger started with Wilshere and Ramsey in the advanced central roles and, later, Rosicky and Nasri. Walcott has to hope that it was not a sign of things to come and, realistically, he needs Wenger to put his faith in the 4-2-3-1 system that he employed for the bulk of last season.

"I'm upbeat about the new season," Walcott said. "It will be interesting to see which players come in and what I get out of the pre-season matches, not just me but the whole squad ... how we play together, and if the boss is going to change anything like formations or anything like that."

Walcott enjoyed what was comfortably his most prolific season last time out, with 13 goals in all competitions, and he missed 13 weeks through injury. He has not been afraid to set himself a bold target for the upcoming campaign. "Fifteen to 20 goals is my target," he said. "If I have a whole season without injuries, I will be flying."

Walcott, though, does not want to look too far ahead. The European Championship looms at the end of the season and it is fair to say that major international tournaments have not been kind to him.

"I want to concentrate on Arsenal and just try to win something for Arsenal first," he said. "It's important to have a starting place consistently for the whole year and then look forward to the summer [with England]. Maybe a couple of years ago, I looked at that like I was going [to the World Cup] and it didn't happen so I don't want to be looking too far ahead and getting disappointed at the end of it."

For his next trick, Walcott will play against Hangzhou Greentown in Yiwu City on Saturday night and, doubtless, thrill the crowd and the large television audience across China. Arsenal's players will have the names on the back of their shirts in Mandarin.

Walcott has not been the only one to cause a frenzy on this tour. Far from it. Van Persie and Wilshere are hugely popular and so is Nasri, although he has not done any public relations. A highlight here was the chopstick challenge that Van Persie, together with Rosicky, Thomas Vermaelen and Kieran Gibbs, took part in before 600 screaming supporters at the team hotel.

Walcott, though, has taken centre stage. He hopes to do likewise on the field.

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